An Unexpected Potato

• Today I traveled 25.8 miles with 5400 feet of ascent and 5213 feet of descent. Only 0.4 miles way from doing my first marathon of the trail!
• Today’s goal was to make it within a few miles of Kelley Stand Road, where I’ll be picked up tomorrow morning to spend the day and night and the Wicked Waystation hostel in Wardsboro, VT.
• I ran into another SOBO today during lunch that I had met on day 3 or 4 of the trail in the 100 mile wilderness. It was crazy to run into him again after over a month of hiking. We walked together for a few hours which was a nice change a pace. He isnt stopping tomorrow at the hostel, but I plan on meeting back up with him in the next few days.
• This section of the AT overlaps with the Long Trail, and this is a prime fall start time to hike the LT. The AT passes the start of the LT in about 50 miles so the trail will quiet down quite a bit without them. The NOBOS are also thinning out as we’re getting pretty late in the year for NOBOS to still be in Vermont. The trail is going to get much more empty in the next month or so, which I’m not really looking forward to.
• I’m excited to rest tomorrow and get my trekking pole replacements. I’ve done nearly 20 mile days or more 6 of the last 7 days. My legs feel pretty good still, but it’ll be nice to catch up on some sleep!

Peace!